Welcome to Hogwarts, Willow Rosenberg
by pencil gal
Summary: Ch 9 up Willow goes to hogwarts and she becomes best friends with Hermione
1. In which Willow receives a letter

Welcome to Hogwarts, Willow Rosenberg  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise. They belong to the geniuses Joss Whedon and J.K. Rowling. I own the plot.  
  
Chapter 1 – In which Willow receives a letter  
  
Willow Rosenberg woke up the morning after her 11th birthday to bright sunshine. She walked downstairs and collected the mail. There were a few postcards, some official looking envelopes that were probably bills, and a thick yellow envelope made from parchment. Willow looked at this one curiously and saw that it was addressed to her. Written in green ink was:  
  
Miss W. Rosenberg  
  
18 Wilkins Crescent  
  
Sunnydale  
  
California  
  
USA  
  
She walked into the kitchen where her parents Ira and Sheila Rosenberg were sitting down to breakfast. Willow handed her mother the mail in a daze still staring at her letter. She turned it over and saw it was sealed with wax. The seal was an 'H' surrounded by four animals, a lion, a snake, a badger and an eagle. Willow broke the seal and took out a sheet of parchment that read  
  
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry  
  
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore  
  
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)  
  
Dear Ms. Rosenberg  
  
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You are one of 5 overseas students this year. Enclosed is a list of supplies that you will need for the coming school year, a plane ticket, and a train ticket. You will be able to pick up your school supplies in Diagon Alley. In Sunnydale there is a small restaurant called Eyeless Newts. From there you will be shown to Diagon Alley. Please be at L.A. International Airport on August 31st at 10am. Your plane will leave from Gate C. The train leaves Kings Cross Station, London at 11am from Platform 9 ¾. We await your owl no later than August 1st.  
  
Yours sincerely,  
  
Minerva McGonagall  
  
Deputy Headmistress  
  
"Honey? Honey? Is something wrong?" Sheila asked Willow. Willow passed her the parchment and took out the second sheet and tickets. Sheila read through the letter. "Oh my," was all she could say. It was then that Ira Rosenberg realized that his wife and daughter were just sitting there silent when usually they would be chatting away on top note.  
  
He looked at them and asked, "Are you two okay?" Sheila gave him the letter and he read it through. Willow finally came to life while her father was reading the letter. Her brain had finally registered what the letter had said.  
  
"I'm a witch!" Willow exclaimed. She was now very excited. "Mummy, Daddy can I please go to Hogwarts? Please?"  
  
Ira and Sheila looked at each other. "Well... I suppose you can go. You're going to be away from us for the nearly the whole year so if you promise that you'll behave yourself at school then you can go," said Ira. Sheila also nodded her approval. Willow became even more excited. She couldn't speak. Then she jumped up and ran to hug her father.  
  
"Thank you, thank you, thank you Daddy!!"  
  
"Now Willow, remember that you can't go around telling people that you're a witch," Sheila warned her eager daughter.  
  
Willow pouted. "Well can I tell Xander? I won't be able to keep this a secret from him for long. I promise I won't tell anyone else, just Xander. He's my best friend, please?"  
  
Sheila let out a resigned sigh, "Okay Xander but only Xander." Willow grinned.  
  
"Mummy can I go over to Xander's after breakfast?" Sheila nodded. Willow had a couple of pieces of toast then went to get dressed.  
  
She came back down 10 minutes later in a pair of shorts and a dark green tank top that complemented her long red hair. "I'll be home for dinner. Bye now!" Willow picked up her letter and walked to Xander's house. 


	2. In which Xander finds out about Willow

Chapter 2 – In which Xander finds out about Willow  
  
Willow ran down the street and turned the corner onto Sunset Ave. She passed a few houses then passed through Xander's gate and dashed up the steps. She rang the bell and Mrs. Harris answered the door. Mrs. Harris saw Willow and smiled.  
  
"Xander is up in his room Willow," she said.  
  
"Thanks Mrs. Harris!" Willow skipped up the stairs and into her best friend Xander's room looking very happy and excited. "Hey Xan, I've got the best news!" Willow exclaimed, waving a sheet of paper in Xander's face.  
  
"Willow," Xander whined, "You made me lose my game."  
  
"Xander read the letter," Willow said still grinning like a Cheshire cat.  
  
"Okay, okay," Xander began reading out loud.  
  
"Dear Ms Rosenberg," Xander started, "Ms Rosenberg, impressive." He said nodding.  
  
Willow rolled her eyes. "Keep going, hurry up."  
  
"Alright, keep your pants on," Xander replied. He continued reading the letter out loud, "We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Xander's eyes became as wide as plates. "Whoa. Witchcraft and Wizardry?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah I'm a witch! Can you believe that?"  
  
"Willow," said Xander cautiously, "Are you sure this is for real? It's not just a prank?"  
  
"Xan do you know anyone who would pull a prank on me? The only people at school who know my name besides the teachers are you and Jesse and somehow I don't think Jesse did this."  
  
"Good point. Will this is amazing. You're a witch! This is so incredible. But Will you won't be at school with us for seven years. It'll just be me and Jess."  
  
"I know but I promise I'll owl you all the time and I'll be back next summer."  
  
"Owl?"  
  
"It's how wizards send letters. But Xander you have to promise you won't tell anyone where I'm going not even Jesse. Tell him I was sent to boarding school or something but don't tell him the name or where."  
  
"Willow I promise I won't tell anyone you're a witch."  
  
Willow squealed with glee and hugged Xander tightly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you. You're the bestest friend in the whole wide world. I'm gonna ask Mum and Dad to take me to Diagon Alley in August. I'll show you my wand and books and stuff when I get them."  
  
"Sounds cool Will. Now whaddya say we play some Nintendo and I beat you on every race on Mario kart?"  
  
"You wish Harris. You know you can't beat me, the great Rosenberg. Set it up." Willow smiled. They spent the rest of the day playing games and talking about Hogwarts and what it would be like. 


	3. In which Willow goes to Diagon Alley

Chapter 3 – In which Willow goes to Diagon Alley "There it is!" Willow screamed in her mother's ear as they drove past the Eyeless Newts restaurant. Sheila stopped the car and Willow dragged her over to the door. Sheila frowned. "I've never seen this place before." Willow and Sheila walked through the door and over to the counter. "Hello there, my name's Thomas," said the barman, "Are you new to Artmiths College of Witchcraft?" "No I'm going to Hogwarts," replied Willow. "Really? That's one of the most prestigious schools of magic in the world. Are you a muggle-born?" "Muggle?" "Apparently so. Muggles are non-magical people," Thomas explained, "Come with me I'll show you how to get to Diagon Alley." The three walked to the back of the restaurant, Willow and Sheila looking at all the strange people and creatures along the way. They walked to the brick wall out the back of the restaurant next to some rubbish bins. Thomas took a strange looking stick out of the pocket of his peculiar dress-like clothing. "Wow is that a wand?!" Willow exclaimed. Thomas smiled. "Yes it is. You'll have to get one yourself." He turned to the wall and started tapping bricks. "Three down, three right," he said aloud. The bricks moved and formed an archway leading to a shop filled street. "This is Diagon Alley," stated Thomas, grinning at the look of awe on Willow's face and the shock on Sheila's. "Wow" was the only word Willow could manage to get out. "Go straight down the street to a large white building. That's Gringotts. Wizard's bank. You'll be able to exchange your money there. Once you've finished shopping, make sure you come back through the archway labelled Eyeless Newts. If you go through any of the others, you'll end up in another country. Have fun." Thomas walked back through the archway. Willow grinned at her mother, who was still in a state of shock. Willow grabbed Sheila's arm and dragged her along the cobble-stoned street, trying to look at everything at the same time and stopped outside Gringotts. Willow saw a message written on the doors and read aloud:  
  
Enter, stranger, but take heed  
  
Of what awaits the sin of greed,  
  
For those who take, but do not earn,  
  
Must pay most dearly in their turn,  
  
So if you seek beneath our floors  
  
A treasure that was never yours,  
  
Thief, you have been warned, beware  
  
Of finding more than treasure there.  
  
"Are you sure about this Willow?" Sheila asked, having recovered enough to hear Willow read the message on the doors to Gringotts.  
  
"Yes Mum I'm sure."  
  
"Okay then," Sheila took a deep breath, "Let's go."  
  
Together mother and daughter walked inside the large building and up to one of the desks. Willow was getting a bit freaked out. This place was run by goblins. Sure there had been some hags and what Willow thought might have been demons in the Eyeless Newts, but these were goblins. Willow had never liked goblins. She had always had a fear of them sort of like her fear of frogs. Whenever her mother or father had her read Willow bed time stories if there was ever a part about goblins she would get a frightened look on her face. Now that Willow knew they were real, she was even more freaked.  
  
"Can I help you?" the goblin asked while stretching its long fingers.  
  
"Yes we would like to exchange some money," said Sheila after gathering her courage. She knew of her daughter's fear and that she would have to do the talking until they were back outside.  
  
"Very well, how much would you like to exchange?"  
  
"$200." Sheila handed over the money. The goblin took it and looked over an exchange rate sheet.  
  
"Here. 110 galleons, 28 sickles and 15 knuts." The goblin gave Sheila some strange looking coins.  
  
Sheila looked at them hesitantly then said, "Umm... could you please explain this to me?"  
  
The goblin sighed, or what Willow took to be a sigh since she'd never actually seen or heard a goblin before. "The small bronze ones are knuts. 29 Knuts to a sickle. The silver ones are sickles. There are 17 sickles to a galleon. And the large gold ones are galleons." Sheila nodded and said thankyou then she and Willow walked out of the building.  
  
Willow shivered and said, "I'm glad to be out of there. Those goblins were giving me the creeps."  
  
Sheila smiled. "Have you got your supply list?" Willow pulled it out and grinned.  
  
"Yep!"  
  
"Where would you like to go first?"  
  
"Ooh, ooh can we go get my wand?"  
  
Sheila chuckled lightly at Willow's enthusiasm. "Of course sweetie." Willow squealed with delight then spotted a sign that read,  
  
Ollivanders: Makers of fine wands since 382 BC  
  
Willow pointed it out to her mother and they went inside the small, musty smelling shop. The two of them were looking around at the stacks and stacks of boxes and didn't hear the owner of the shop approach.  
  
"Miss Rosenberg, I've been expecting you." Willow jumped and spun around to see an old, creepy man coming out of the shadows.  
  
"Are you Mr Ollivander?" she asked tentatively.  
  
He nodded. "Which is your wand arm?"  
  
"Umm... I'm right-handed," she replied uncertainly.  
  
"Hold it up." Mr Ollivander got out measuring tape and began taking measurements. Willow quickly realised that the tape was doing it by itself since Mr Ollivander had walked off towards the back of the shop. As he looked around the shop he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Ms Rosenberg. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course you will never get such good results with another witch's wand."  
  
Mr Ollivander came back holding a thin box. "Try this one," he said, "Holly and unicorn hair. 8½ inches. A little springy." Willow took it having no clue what to do with it.  
  
"Well go on then, give it a wave," said Mr Ollivander impatiently. Willow waved the wand but nothing happened. Mr Ollivander snatched it out of her hand and gave her another. "Ebony and dragon heartstring. 11¼ inches." Again Willow waved the wand and again nothing happened. After this happened a few more times Willow was beginning to feel rather stupid. Every wand she had tried nothing had happened.  
  
"The wand chooses the witch Ms. Rosenberg. We'll find you one soon," Mr Ollivander said as he approached with another wand. "Try this one out. Willow and unicorn hair, 9¾ inches. Rather whippy." Willow took the wand and felt a tingling go through her body. She waved the wand and from the tip red and green sparks shot out. "We've found a winner. Well done Ms. Rosenberg. That will be six galleons please." Sheila paid for the wand and they left the shop.  
  
Willow and Sheila then went to Flourish and Blotts to get Willow's books. While the shop attendant was getting the books Willow would need, Willow was browsing the shelves looking at all the books they had on magic. Willow walked back to her mother and asked if she could get a few books besides from the ones needed for school. Sheila said it was all right, as she had always encouraged her daughter to read from an early age. Willow came back with five extra books. One was Hogwarts: A History. Willow thought it would be a good idea to know about the school she was going to. Another was called Quidditch through the Ages. She had heard children at Gringotts talking about something called Quidditch and it sounded fascinating to her. The other three were just random magic books that had looked interesting to Willow while she was looking through the bookshelves. Sheila paid for all the books and they walked back out to Diagon Alley.  
  
"Willow why don't you go get your robes and I'll go get your potion supplies and a cauldron," Sheila said.  
  
"Okay that's fine by me Mum," Willow replied. 'This is so much fun,' she thought. Sheila handed Willow some money and walked with her to Madam Malkins Robes for all Occasions. As Willow walked into the shop she bumped into a black-haired boy with glasses.  
  
"Oh I'm sorry," he said, "Are you okay?"  
  
"I'm fine and it's my fault. I wasn't watching where I was going," Willow replied.  
  
"Okay then. I guess I'll see you at Hogwarts," said the boy and he walked over to a huge man who reminded Willow of a giant.  
  
Willow walked further into the shop and was confronted by a nice looking lady who asked, "Hogwarts dear?" Willow nodded. "Right this way then. There's another young man being fitted at the moment." Madam Malkin walked towards the back of the shop with Willow following her. Willow hopped onto a stool next a blonde boy who looked like he was nearly finished. Willow decided she would be polite; after all he looked like he was a nice boy.  
  
"Hi there," she said, "You're going to Hogwarts too?"  
  
"Yeah. My father's buying my books and Mother is up the street looking at wands. Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. Apparently a new one just came out. The Nimbus 2000."  
  
"Cool. I just got my wand and books," Willow pulled out her wand, "Willow and unicorn hair, 9¾ inches. By the way my name's Willow. Willow Rosenberg."  
  
"Draco Malfoy. You're American aren't you?"  
  
"Yeah, how did you know?"  
  
"Your accent. But why are you going to Hogwarts if you're American?"  
  
Willow shrugged. "I dunno. I just received a letter from Hogwarts. I mean I didn't even know I was a witch till I got the letter."  
  
"You're a muggle-born?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Oh. Well I'm done. I guess I'll see you on the Hogwarts Express."  
  
"Draco wait. On my ticket it says that I have to go to Platform 9 ¾. How do I get there?"  
  
"You just have to go through the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10. See you there Willow."  
  
"Bye!"  
  
Draco walked out of the shop thinking, 'Wow. She's really nice. Maybe I was wrong about mudbloods. I probably shouldn't tell Father about this though. I doubt he'll be happy about it.'  
  
Willow was finished soon after. She paid for her robes and walked outside and found her mother waiting for her carrying many bags and an owl in a cage. It was a gorgeous tawny frogmouth, but it had strange green eyes, exactly the same as Willow's. Willow loved it instantly. "Thanks so much Mum!"  
  
"Oh it was alright Willow. Besides now you can keep in touch with us. I'll be expecting you to write often."  
  
"I will. Don't worry I will be."  
  
"Good. We can go now. I got the rest of your supplies. Cauldron, glass phials, telescope and brass scales. Everything you need."  
  
Willow spotted the ice-cream shop. "Mum can we have an ice-cream before we go?"  
  
Sheila smiled. She knew her daughter's weakness for ice cream. "Okay."  
  
They had their ice cream then went back through the archway labelled "Eyeless Newts". They said goodbye to Thomas and went home. It was beginning to get late so Willow couldn't go to Xander's but she decided to go the next day. Willow fell asleep that night reading her new schoolbooks. She had also named her owl Hera after the Greek goddess. Before she fell asleep she said to Hera,  
  
"In a month we'll be at Hogwarts Hera. I can't wait! I'm going to learn magic. Wow..." 


	4. In which there is a train ride and sorti...

Chapter 4 – In which there is a train ride and a sorting  
  
Willow stepped aboard the Hogwarts Express and began looking for a compartment to sit in. As she walked past all the full compartments she thought about her summer. It had been an enjoyable summer in her opinion. Willow and Xander had had lots of fun looking through all her schoolbooks and trying out spells with her wand. They had also done some reminiscing. They remembered some of the strange things that had happened around Willow. This one time at Summer Camp when Willow had gotten really angry at Xander she had somehow accidentally turned his hair pink. She hadn't gotten in trouble because no one could prove it was her but they both knew it had been Willow. All those peculiar things that had happened around Willow when she was upset were now explained. It was because she was a witch.  
  
Xander thought it was great. When Xander saw Willow doing magic he thought it was "very cool". He had told Willow that she had to send him some magical pranks that he could use to joke people at school when he went back to boring old Sunnydale Elementary. Xander particularly wanted to try them out on one Cordelia Chase. Of course Willow had agreed to get Xander pranks to use on Cordelia. After all Xander and Willow had a We Hate Cordelia Club of which Xander was treasurer.  
  
Willow had arrived at the airport and taken her plane to Heathrow Airport in London. She had been a bit frightened since it was her first time on a plane by herself. But she was more scared when she got to London. Willow had to catch a taxi all by herself to King's Cross Station. It was a good thing that Sheila had given Willow a bit of muggle money before she left. Willow got there at 10:45. She only had 15 minutes to get on the platform. Willow found Platforms 9 and 10 but couldn't see a Platform 9¾. She began to freak out until she remembered what that boy Draco had told her in Diagon Alley. She just had to walk through the barrier. Willow had done just that expecting the whole time to just walk into a brick wall. But when Willow hadn't hit anything she had opened her eyes to find a bustling platform filled with students and a scarlet train that had Hogwarts Express on the side. And now she was walking down the corridor looking for somewhere she could sit.  
  
Willow went into a compartment that she thought was empty and found two girls sitting there. They looked up when she walked in. One of the girls had bushy brown hair and the other had straight brown hair. The first girl spoke up first. "Hi there! I'm Hermione Granger," she said in a distinctly English accent, "Would you like to sit with us?"  
  
"Yes please. I couldn't find any empty compartments," Willow replied, "I'm Willow Rosenberg."  
  
The second girl smiled and said, "Samantha Shirley. I'm from Sydney." Willow sat down.  
  
For a few seconds it was quiet then all three said at the same time, "I love your accents!" They all broke down giggling.  
  
When they had calmed down enough to talk, they told each other about themselves. Willow found out that Hermione was also a muggle-born and was also a big reader. She too had read all of their schoolbooks plus others like Hogwarts: A History. Hermione hadn't really had any friends before. At her primary school everyone had shunned her because she enjoyed reading. Samantha on the other hand was also like Willow being another of the exchange students. However Samantha was a pureblooded witch but she knew all about muggles since her parents had made her go to a muggle primary school. They had thought it would be good for her, which it had been. Samantha had had a muggle best friend who she told about her witchcraft years ago.  
  
They also talked about their families. Willow and Hermione, both being an only child, wanted to know what it was like growing up with two brothers and being the middle child. Her older brother didn't go to Hogwarts though. He went to the Australian Institute for Magic. Her whole family was proud of her for getting into Hogwarts. Coming from a wizarding family Sam (as everyone except her family called her) knew exactly how good a school Hogwarts was.  
  
Not long after that a round-faced boy came into the compartment. "Excuse me but have you seen a toad? I've lost him." He looked like he was on the verge of tears.  
  
"No sorry we haven't," said Hermione. She looked to Willow and Sam then said, "But we'll help you look for it if you want?" Willow and Sam agreed.  
  
"Yes please, that is if you don't mind."  
  
"We don't mind at all," said Willow, "I'm Willow and this is Sam and Hermione." She pointed to them respectively.  
  
"Neville Longbottom."  
  
They left the compartment, Hermione going with Neville one way and Willow and Sam going the other.  
  
Willow and Sam went a bit of the way down the train and poked their heads into a compartment. Sitting in there was Draco and some boys who could have passed as goons.  
  
"Hey Draco!" said Willow brightly.  
  
The guys looked up from the discussion they were having. "Hey Willow," he replied. The other boys nudged him. Draco rolled his eyes and said, "This is Crabbe and Goyle."  
  
"Hi. Oh this is Samantha Shirley. Sam this is Draco Malfoy. We met in Diagon Alley."  
  
"Hey Sam," said Draco, "Can I call you Sam?"  
  
"Yeah, everybody does. Well except my family. They always call me Samantha. Well my brothers don't but the rest of the family does."  
  
"Nice accent."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"Australian?"  
  
"Yep. I'm from good old Sydney, New South Wales."  
  
"Are you muggle-born like Willow?"  
  
"No I'm a pureblooded witch."  
  
"Anyway guys, we were wondering if you had seen a toad?" said Willow, "A boy named Neville lost one."  
  
"Sorry Willow," said Draco, "None have come in here."  
  
"Okay thanks Draco. We'll see you when we get to Hogwarts. Oh and I made another friend as well that you should meet."  
  
"Cool, can't wait to meet her. See you two later then."  
  
"Bye guys," Sam and Willow said this at the same time and it made them start laughing again. They left and continued looking for Neville's toad. Unfortunately they had no luck so they went to see the driver to find out when they would be arriving at Hogwarts where they met up with Hermione. The three returned to their compartment and resumed talking. After awhile Sam brought out her Exploding Snap deck and showed Willow and Hermione. That's how they spent the rest of the train ride. By the time they got off the train at Hogsmeade all three had slightly singed hair.  
  
It was dark outside and getting cold. Willow, Sam and Hermione pulled their cloaks tight around them and then saw a lamp bobbing over the heads of students and heard a voice calling, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?" A large man appeared and Willow recognized him as the man she had seen outside of Madam Malkin's in Diagon Alley. "C'mon follow me – any more firs' years? Mind your step, now! Firs' years follow me!" They followed the man down a steep narrow path that seemed darker than when they were on the platform. "Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," called the man over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."  
  
There was a loud chorus of "Oooooh!"  
  
The first years were now standing at the edge of a black lake. On the other side on the top of a high mountain was a huge castle. "No more'n four to a boat!" The man called while pointing to small boats that were sitting in the water by the shore. Willow, Hermione and Sam hopped into a boat and were joined by Draco. "Everyone in?" shouted the man, "Right then – FORWARD!" The boats began gliding across the water towards the castle.  
  
"Wow," whispered Willow in an awed voice.  
  
"My Dad never told me how gorgeous it was," said Sam whose father had gone to Hogwarts. About half way across the lake Draco got bored of looking at the castle. He turned to Willow and said,  
  
"So Will, is this the other friend you were telling me about?" He nodded at Hermione.  
  
"Yeah. I'll introduce you. Oi Hermi!" Hermione turned around. "Hermione this is Draco Malfoy, we met in Diagon Alley. Draco this is my friend Hermione Granger, she's a muggle-born like me."  
  
"Hi," said Hermione holding out her hand.  
  
Draco smiled and shook her hand, "Hey. Nice to meet you Hermione."  
  
"My, my, so polite," Hermione said with mock surprise.  
  
"Heads down!" the giant man called as the boats reached the cliff. They came to some kind of underground harbour and all the first years got out of their boats. "Oi! You there! Is this your toad?" Giant-guy, as Willow had dubbed him, asked as Neville got out of his boat.  
  
"Trevor!" said Neville delightedly. Everyone walked up the stone stairs and arrived at the huge oak front doors.  
  
"Everyone here? You there still got your toad?" Giant-guy asked. Neville nodded and "Giant-guy" knocked three times on the doors. The doors opened and the first years crowded into the warm Entrance Hall to be greeted by a stern looking witch.  
  
"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Giant-guy.  
  
"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here," replied Professor McGonagall.  
  
'Ah Hagrid, so that's his name,' thought Willow as the first years followed Professor McGonagall into a small empty room off the hall. When they were all in there Professor McGonagall began speaking.  
  
"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said, "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like you family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn you house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." Willow saw her eyes rest on Neville and some red headed kid she hadn't met while on the train. Then McGonagall continued, "I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly." With that Professor McGonagall left and everyone began talking quietly to their friends.  
  
"Sam did your Dad tell you how we're Sorted?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Yeah. I don't know why people are starting to freak out. I mean all we have to do is try on an old hat and it will tell us where we're meant to be," Sam answered.  
  
"Well that's simple," said Willow then everyone around her started screaming, "What the?" Willow saw about twenty ghosts come through a wall. "Cool," she said, "There are ghosts."  
  
"Really?" said Sam, "That is just so cool. Marc said that there aren't any ghosts at the Oz Institute for Magic. I've always wanted to see a ghost."  
  
Professor McGonagall returned and said, "Now form a line and follow me."  
  
Willow, Sam and Hermione got in the line near Draco. They walked into the Great Hall and the girls looked up. "I'm so glad that the ceiling is bewitched," said Willow, "Now we get to look at the stars while eating dinner each night. And in winter we'll get to see the snow falling."  
  
"Oh! I just realized that I'll get to see a white Christmas," said Sam, "I've always wanted a white Christmas since it doesn't snow in Sydney."  
  
The first years walked to the front of the hall gazing around in awe and then saw McGonagall place a dirty old hat on a stool in front of them. Then the hat started singing, startling most of the first years.  
  
Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,  
  
But don't judge on what you see,  
  
I'll eat myself if you can find  
  
A smarter hat than me.  
  
You can keep your bowlers black,  
  
Your top hats sleek and tall,  
  
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat  
  
And I can cap them all.  
  
There's nothing hidden in your head  
  
The Sorting Hat can't see,  
  
So try me on and I will tell you  
  
Where you ought to be.  
  
You might belong in Gryffindor,  
  
Where dwell the brave at heart,  
  
Their daring, nerve and chivalry  
  
Set Gryffindors apart;  
  
You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
  
Where they are just and loyal,  
  
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true  
  
And unafraid of toil;  
  
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,  
  
If you've a ready mind,  
  
Where those of wit and learning,  
  
Will always find their kind;  
  
Or perhaps in Slytherin  
  
You'll make your real friends,  
  
Those cunning folk use any means  
  
To achieve their ends.  
  
So put me on! Don't be afraid!  
  
And don't get in a flap!  
  
You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
  
For I'm a Thinking Cap!  
  
The hall burst into applause, Willow clapping hard with everyone else. When it was quiet Professor McGonagall stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment. "When I call your name, you will on the stool to be sorted," she said, "Abbott, Hannah!"  
  
A girl with pigtails walked up to the stool, put on the hat and waited for a moment. Then the hat shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!"  
  
After a few more people had gone up and had been sorted, Willow began to get impatient. She wanted to know what house she and her friends would be in. Willow turned to Sam since her father had gone to Hogwarts and asked, "Hey Sam, what house was your Dad in?"  
  
"Ravenclaw," she replied, "I think I want to be in either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw." Then they heard McGonagall call out the name "Granger, Hermione!"  
  
Hermione practically ran up to the stool and stuck the hat on her head. Almost immediately the hat called out "GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
Hermione skipped to the table making all the noise and sat down grinning. She crossed her fingers hoping her new friends would be with her in Gryffindor.  
  
Willow's feet were hurting from standing up. She felt as if she were about to fall asleep on her feet when she heard a name she recognized. "Madison, Amy!"  
  
Willow saw a blonde girl walk up to the stool and then realized that she knew her. The two had gone to Sunnydale Elementary together. Amy put on the hat but it had barely touched her head before it shouted out "SLYTHERIN!"  
  
And then, "Malfoy, Draco!" Draco walked up to the stool and sat down. The hat was only on his head for a second before it yelled out "SLYTHERIN!" Willow, Sam and Hermione were all confused and were all thinking the same thing, that Draco was way too nice to be an evil Slytherin git.  
  
After that Willow stopped paying attention. She didn't even notice when the name "Potter, Harry" was called out and the whole hall began whispering. Willow didn't pay any attention to what was going on around her until her own name was called. Willow walked up to the stool a little nervously but no one could tell. She put on the hat and jumped slightly when a voice started whispering in her ear. "Miss Rosenberg you have plenty of courage and bravery. My word yes, you're overflowing with bravery. And from what I can see you're going to need it in the future. Something to do with a werewolf. Well there's only one place to put you. GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
Willow walked over to the Gryffindor table grinning like a Cheshire cat and sat down next to Hermione, who was clapping until her hands hurt and whistling at Willow. Willow laughed and said, "Look Sam's up now." The Sorting Hat seemed to be having problems with Sam. She had already been sitting there for a minute. "Where to put you?" the hat whispered in Sam's ear, "You could go into Ravenclaw, you have the brains that always do well in Ravenclaw. But you don't like to work. You're also extremely ambitious and would so well in Slytherin. But somehow I don't think that would quite work. Hmm... that only leaves GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
"YES!" Sam yelled and ran over to the table and hugged Willow and Hermione. There weren't many people left. After "Zabini, Blaise" had been made a Slytherin, McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.  
  
Albus Dumbledore stood up and began to speak, "Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"  
  
"Hey he's cool," said Sam as the plates filled up with food, "He's crazy like I am."  
  
"Sam shut up and eat," replied Willow.  
  
As the three girls were stuffing their faces with food, a ghost came over and sat next to Hermione. "Hi there," she said, "I'm Hermione Granger. Who are you?"  
  
"My name is Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington. I'm the resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower," the ghost answered.  
  
Then a red-headed kid piped up and said, "I know who you are! My brothers told me about you – you're Nearly Headless Nick!"  
  
"I would prefer you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-"  
  
A sandy haired kid then said, "Nearly headless? How can you be nearly headless?"  
  
"Like this," Nick replied and pulled his head to the side and showed them his severed neck. Everyone around them exclaimed, "Ewww!" But Willow, Hermione and Sam said at the same time in the same awed tone of voice, "Coool!"  
  
Everyone continued eating till they were full then the food magically disappeared the same way it appeared. Dumbledore stood up and the hall fell silent. "Ahem – just a few more words now we are all fed and watered. I have a few start of term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest in the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well. I have also been asked by Mr Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death. And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!"  
  
Dumbledore gave his wand a flick and gold ribbon flew out and twisted itself into words. "Everyone pick their favourite tune," he said, "and off we go!"  
  
Willow, Sam and Hermione started singing to the tune "Ain't no mountain high enough".  
  
Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,  
  
Teach us something please,  
  
Whether we be old and bald  
  
Or young with scabby knees,  
  
Our heads could do with filling  
  
For now they're bare and full of air,  
  
Dead bits flies and bits of fluff,  
  
So teach us things worth knowing,  
  
Bring back what we've forgot,  
  
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,  
  
And learn until our brains all rot.  
  
When they finished, the girls began cracking up with laughter from the way they had sang the song. When everyone had finally finished singing Dumbledore said, "Ah music. A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"  
  
The Gryffindor first years followed their prefect out of the Great Hall and began walking towards Gryffindor Tower. They began working their way up many staircases but soon came an abrupt halt when they saw a bunch of walking sticks hanging in mid-air.  
  
"Peeves," the prefect told the first years, "A poltergeist." He raised his voice and said, "Peeves – show yourself! Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?" There was a pop and a small man appeared holding the walking sticks.  
  
"Oooooooooooh ickle firsties! What fun," he said. He swooped at them. The first years ducked except for the three girls who stood up straight and grinned. They were going to like it here. They continued down the corridor and came to a painting of a fat lady in a pink dress.  
  
"Password?" she asked.  
  
"Caput Draconis," replied the prefect. Everyone went through and went up to the dorms. Willow, Sam and Hermione all scrambled into bed without even realizing that there were another two girls in their dorm room. 


	5. In which there are classes and Hermione ...

Chapter 5 – In which there are classes and Hermione takes a stroll  
  
Willow and Hermione woke up at approximately the same time the next morning. They looked at Sam, who was in the middle bed, then grinned evilly at each other. The two got out of bed quietly and jumped on Sam. Sam groaned and said, "Guys get off me. It's too early let me sleep."  
  
"Sam it's 7:10," replied Willow.  
  
"Like I said, too early!"  
  
"Come on Sam get up. You'll be late for class," said Hermione.  
  
"No I won't, now let me sleep."  
  
Willow sighed, "Ok Sam here's the deal. You get up now and you can have chocolate."  
  
"I can have chocolate for breakfast?" Sam asked in an incredulous voice.  
  
"Only if you get up right this instant."  
  
"Ok, ok, I'm up, I'm up."  
  
"About time," said Hermione in a joking voice.  
  
"Oh shut up Hermione."  
  
"Oooh someone's not a morning person."  
  
Sam glared at her but merely got out of bed and said, "I'm up now where's my chocolate?"  
  
"Sam get dressed and we'll go down to the Great Hall and you can have your chocolate," Willow said exasperatedly.  
  
"Okie dokie," Sam replied happily.  
  
When the three of them were dressed they made it down to the Great Hall without getting lost. They sat down and Willow took a block of Cadbury Dairy Milk out of her bag and gave it to Sam. "Sam you better make that last," she warned, "I don't have many blocks with me."  
  
"No problemo," Sam replied as she wolfed down a row of the chocolate then started eating some proper breakfast.  
  
After breakfast the trio left the Great Hall looking at their timetables. "It looks like we have History of Magic first," said Willow.  
  
"Well how are we going to find it?" replied Hermione, "This castle is huge." Sam didn't say anything since she was walking along half-dead.  
  
Willow looked around the Entrance Hall and said, "Let's go this way. Maybe we'll be able to find it." She pointed to the right. They started walking down a hall. Willow was looking at all the moving paintings and wasn't looking where she was going. Of course as it always happens when you're not watching where you're going Willow walked straight into someone.  
  
"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry," she quickly apologized, "I wasn't watching what I was doing."  
  
"It's okay," the boy replied, "Willow right?"  
  
"Yeah. How do you know my name?"  
  
"I saw you getting sorted last night. I'm Oz by the way."  
  
"Oz? That's a strange name."  
  
"It's actually Daniel Osbourne but these nitwits," Oz pointed over his shoulder, "gave me the name Oz and it stuck. Unfortunately."  
  
"Sorry to but in," said Sam, "but I'd like to find our classroom so I can go back to sleep."  
  
"What class do you have?" asked Oz, "I'll show you what direction you need to go."  
  
"History of Magic."  
  
"Euh. Well you'll be able to sleep in that class. Keep going up this corridor then turn right. It's down that corridor. Enjoy your sleep Samantha. I got to go. Bye!"  
  
"Thanks Oz!" Willow called after him. Willow, Sam and Hermione walked down the corridor and turned.  
  
"Hey Willow, that Oz guy likes you," Hermione commented as they arrived at the History of Magic classroom.  
  
"Oh he does not," Willow scoffed, "He's only twelve."  
  
"Doesn't matter how old you are Will," Sam chimed in, "I'm eleven and I have a crush on a guy at home."  
  
"Whatever I don't believe you about Oz. He doesn't have a crush on me, he was just being nice."  
  
The three walked into the classroom, sat down and continued talking.  
  
"He knew your name Will."  
  
"Yeah that proves he likes you," Hermione added.  
  
"That doesn't prove anything," replied Willow, "He knew your name as well Sam."  
  
"Whatever I'm going back to sleep." Sam put her bag on the desk and went to sleep.  
  
Willow and Hermione tried to pay attention to Professor Binns, who was apparently their only ghost teacher, but he was so boring that they kept drifting off into daydream land. They would take a couple of notes then go back to staring out the window.  
  
"You know what Mione," said Willow, "I reckon Sam had the right idea."  
  
Hermione looked at Sam fast asleep and nodded her agreement. Sam woke up just as the bell rang and asked, "What did I miss?"  
  
"Not much Sam," Willow and Hermione said together.  
  
The three linked arms and practically skipped off to Transfiguration.  
  
As Willow, Hermione and Sam walked down to breakfast on Friday they were talking about the classes they had had so far. "I like Charms and Astronomy the best," said Sam, "Oh and History of Magic."  
  
"You like History of Magic because you can go to sleep in it," Hermione replied with a touch of sarcasm in her voice.  
  
"Exactly!"  
  
"Sam how do you expect to pass the exams at the end of the year if you don't listen to what Professor Binns says?"  
  
Sam shrugged. "I'll make everything up. And it's not like you take many notes in Binns' class you get just as bored as everyone else."  
  
Willow shook her head at the two then said, "I like Transfiguration. What about you Mione?"  
  
"I like Transfiguration as well and Herbology. Defense against the Dark Arts is a bit of a disappointment though."  
  
"I reckon it would be good if we had a better teacher." The girls arrived in the Great Hall and sat down for breakfast.  
  
"So what do we have today?" asked Sam.  
  
"Double Potions with the Slytherins then we have the afternoon off," replied Willow.  
  
"Oh good we haven't had any classes with Draco yet," said Hermione.  
  
"Oh yeah," said Sam, "Come on let's go find him then go to class."  
  
They got up from their seats and crossed to the opposite side of the Hall. Willow spotted Draco sitting with Crabbe, Goyle and a girl called Pansy Parkinson. Willow, Sam and Hermione looked at each other, grinned and yelled out in unison, "DRACO MALFOY!"  
  
Draco looked up from his breakfast and smiled. The girls walked over to him but before anyone could say anything Pansy said, "What do you three Gryffindors think you're doing?" She looked at Willow and Hermione and continued, "You two Mudbloods aren't good enough to even say Draco's name."  
  
"Excuse me?" said Sam. Willow and Hermione were looking confused. What did 'mudblood' mean? "Who do you think you are?" Sam continued, "We have every right to talk to Draco since he is our friend and Willow and Mione are not Mudbloods you little cow, they are muggle-borns. Now if it is all right with you, your majesty, we are going to talk to our friend. Draco?"  
  
Draco smirked at Pansy then stood up and left the Great Hall with Willow, Sam and Hermione. Sam was muttering angrily under her breath and glaring at everyone in her way.  
  
"Umm Sam or Draco," Willow said hesitantly, "Uh what is a mudblood?"  
  
Draco answered since it didn't look like Sam was going to say anything. "Mudblood is a really foul name to call a witch or wizard who has muggle parents."  
  
"Oh. Well let's get to Potions."  
  
When Snape walked into the dungeon Willow thought he looked like an overgrown bat. His black cape billowed around him when he walked and apparently Sam had thought the same thing as Willow because she leaned over and said, "He looks like a bat the way he kind of glides around and the billowing cloak doesn't help. My older brother came over here last year on a school trip and he told me that Snape completely favors the Slytherins."  
  
"Well that's wonderful for us isn't it," Hermione whispered sarcastically, "since Gryffindors and Slytherins are meant to be mortal enemies."  
  
By the end of the lesson Sam's brother had been proven right. Snape had taken five points off Gryffindor and Slytherin had been awarded three points. "He's so prejudiced!" Sam raged as they walked back up to Gryffindor Tower, "Why does Dumbledore let him stay when he is such a biased teacher?"  
  
"Sam we agree that Snape is biased," Willow said trying to calm Sam down, "but he is a good teacher. You can't deny that fact."  
  
"Whatever," Sam muttered darkly and continued walking, or rather stomping.  
  
Willow and Hermione looked at each other and Hermione said, "She's going to hold a grudge against Snape for the rest of her life now."  
  
Sam was already in the common room by the time that Willow and Hermione had caught up to her. "Guys!" she exclaimed excitedly, "We start flying lessons on Thursday! I can't wait to get back on a broom. Don't you think it's dumb that first years aren't allowed to have their own brooms? I do. I can't wait!" Sam grinned at them and started bouncing around. Willow and Hermione smiled and then began laughing as Sam continued to run around the common room excitedly.  
  
At three-thirty on Thursday afternoon Willow, Hermione and Sam walked down into the grounds with the other Gryffindors for their first flying lesson. The Slytherins were already there waiting for them. "Hey Draco!" Willow, Sam and Hermione called out in unison.  
  
"Hey girls," he replied, "Ready to fly?"  
  
"Yes!" exclaimed Sam, "I don't see why first years aren't allowed to have their own brooms do you?"  
  
"Hey Shirley," called Parkinson, "Why don't you and your annoying Australian accent go bother someone else?"  
  
"Hey Parkinson," Sam called back in the same tone of voice, "Why don't you and your ugly face go bother someone else?"  
  
Parkinson looked like she was about to say something else but their teacher Madame Hooch arrived.  
  
"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."  
  
Willow looked at her broom. It had a bent handle and twigs were sticking out. "Stick out your right hand over your broom and say 'Up!'" Madam Hooch called.  
  
"UP!" Everyone shouted.  
  
Willow's broom hovered into the air then fell back to the ground. Sam's broom had jumped straight into her hand and Hermione's had simply turned over on the ground. Willow tried again and this time the broom jumped into her outstretched hand. Hermione tried a few more times, all unsuccessful. She rolled her eyes and picked the broom up.  
  
"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madame Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet and then come straight back down by leaning forwards slightly. On my whistle – three – two..." Neville Longbottom was nervous however and accidentally pushed off hard. "Come back boy!" Madame Hooch shouted but Neville continued to rise.  
  
"Oh no Neville," Willow moaned to Sam and Hermione and then they saw Neville slip off the broom and fall. The girls ran over to where Madame Hooch was bending over Neville and saw her help him up. Madame Hooch turned to the rest of the class.  
  
"None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch'. Come on dear."  
  
As soon as they were out of earshot Draco started laughing. "Did you see his face the great lump?" All the Slytherins began laughing and Parkinson was laughing especially hard.  
  
"Shut up, Malfoy," snapped Parvati Patil.  
  
"Ooh sticking up for Longbottom?" said Parkinson, "Never thought you'd like fat, little cry babies Parvati."  
  
"Look it's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him," Draco said picking up Neville's Remembrall.  
  
"Give that here, Malfoy," said Harry Potter.  
  
"I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to collect – how about – up a tree?"  
  
"Draco give it to me and don't be an idiot," said Willow.  
  
Draco ignored her, hopped on his broom and took off. "Give it back!" yelled Sam, "Don't make me come after to you Draco Malfoy!"  
  
Draco turned around and shouted, "Come and get it Potter!"  
  
"No!" shouted Hermione, "Madame Hooch told us not to move – you'll get us all into trouble."  
  
Harry got on his broom and flew up level to Draco. "Catch Potter!" Draco threw the Remembrall into the air then flew back to ground. Harry streaked after it, caught it and then heard "HARRY POTTER!"  
  
Professor McGonagall walked over to the group of students and said, "Never – in all my time at Hogwarts – how dare you – might have broken your neck."  
  
"It wasn't his fault, Professor-"  
  
"Be quiet Miss Patil-"  
  
"But Malfoy-"  
  
"That's enough Mr. Weasley. Potter, follow me, now."  
  
McGonagall left with Harry and the students broke out in whispers but before anything could really be said Madame Hooch returned. "Today's lesson is over. Everyone return to your common rooms."  
  
All the students began to walk off. As Willow, Hermione and Sam passed Draco and his gang of Slytherins Sam hit Draco over the head and Willow said, "You're an idiot Draco." The girls walked off back to their common room.  
  
That night Willow woke up at about midnight. She walked into the bathroom to get a drink and when she came back she saw that Sam was still awake reading. Willow smiled. She had become accustomed to the fact that Sam would stay up reading by wand light. Willow looked at Hermione's bed and saw it was empty. "Sam," she whispered.  
  
Sam peeked her head out of the curtains surrounding her bed and immediately saw that Hermione's bed was empty. "Where's Hermione?"  
  
"I don't know," Willow replied. "You don't think something's happened to her do you?"  
  
Just then Hermione walked into the dorm room and jumped when she saw Willow and Sam. "Where have you been?" asked Willow.  
  
"Getting chased by Filch."  
  
"What?" Sam said incredulously.  
  
Hermione sighed. "Draco challenged Potter to a wizard's duel and obviously it was a set up so I went to stop him and Weasley from going so they wouldn't lose Gryffindor any more points. I followed them out of the portrait hole and the Fat Lady wasn't there so I was locked out. I went with them to the Trophy Room and ended up getting chased by Filch to the third floor corridor. By the way there is a huge, three-headed dog in there. And then we finally got back here and now I'm going to bed. Night you two."  
  
Sam whispered "Nox" to her wand then the three of them got into bed and went to sleep. 


	6. In which there is a troll

Chapter 6 - In which there is a troll  
  
The days began to pass quickly for Willow, Hermione and Sam. They had each settled into their daily routine and were now eagerly awaiting the Halloween feast. The morning of the feast the girls woke up to the smell of baked pumpkin wafting through the castle.  
  
"Oh no," Sam moaned. "Not pumpkins."  
  
Willow and Hermione were bustling around getting ready for breakfast while Sam was in bed complaining. "What's wrong with pumpkins?" Willow asked as she packed her school bag for the day.  
  
"I don't like pumpkins," Sam replied as she finally pulled herself out of bed.  
  
"But how can you not like pumpkins?" asked Hermione. "You're a witch. You drink pumpkin juice."  
  
"I don't. I only drink water and orange juice. Sometimes Coke and lemonade."  
  
"Weird."  
  
Willow and Hermione picked up their bags and headed for the door. "Sam, be quick or we'll miss breakfast," Willow called to Sam in the bathroom. "We'll meet you in the common room."  
  
By the time they reached the Great Hall Willow, Sam and Hermione only had time for a quick plate of eggs and toast before they left again to get to class. "What do we have?" asked Willow.  
  
"Double Charms," Sam replied through a yawn.  
  
"Ah. Let's go."  
  
When Willow, Hermione and Sam arrived in Charms, tiny Professor Flitwick announced that he thought the class was ready to attempt the Levitation Charm and put the class into pairs. Willow and Sam were happy as they were together but they felt sorry for Hermione who had been forced to work with Ron Weasley. It was hard to tell which was angrier about the situation but Willow and Sam personally believed it to be Hermione.  
  
"Now don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" squeaked Professor Flitwick. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important too - never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."  
  
Willow and Sam were doing reasonably well. They had almost gotten their feathers to float when they heard Weasley shouting behind them, "Wingardium Leviosa!"  
  
"You're saying it wrong," they heard Hermione snap. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."  
  
"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Weasley snarled.  
  
Sam and Willow turned to watch their friend. 'Stupid git,' Willow thought as Hermione rolled up her sleeves. 'Just because Hermione's right and you're wrong doesn't mean you have to act like an idiot.'  
  
Hermione flicked her wand and said, "Wingardium Leviosa." The feather hovered about four feet above their heads and Hermione grinned at Willow and Sam.  
  
"Oh well done!" called Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it."  
  
By the end of the class Willow and Sam were also able to levitate their feathers. As they pushed their way into the crowded hall Willow, Sam and Hermione heard Weasley talking to Potter. "It's no wonder no one can stand her," he said, "she's a nightmare, honestly."  
  
Tears welled up in Hermione's eyes and she pushed past the boys and disappeared. "I think she heard you," commented Potter.  
  
"So?" replied Weasley. "She must've noticed she's got no friends."  
  
Sam and Willow finally got over their shock at the orange-haired boy's words and anger set in. "How dare you?" Sam asked angrily through gritted teeth.  
  
"How dare I what?" Weasley looked confused.  
  
"Say Hermione has no friends." Willow was furious.  
  
"But it's true."  
  
"Yeah? Then what are we? Non-existent?"  
  
"You'll leave Hermione alone if you know what's good for you," Sam threatened as she and Willow went to find Hermione.  
  
They finally found her sitting at a sink in the girl's toilets on the first floor. When Sam and Willow walked in they saw that Hermione was hunched over and sniffling, obviously still crying. "Oh sweetie don't cry," Willow said as she sat down next to Hermione. Sam didn't say anything, simply sat down and pulled her friend into a hug.  
  
"Hermione don't listen to that stupid idiot Weasley," Sam said quietly a few minutes later as Hermione's sobs began to slowly stop.  
  
"Sam's right you know Mione," Willow chimed in.  
  
"Well what did you expect? I'm right about everything," Sam joked. Hermione had stopped crying and she gave a slight smile at Sam's comment.  
  
"Was that a smile?" Willow grinned.  
  
"I think it was," replied Sam.  
  
"Why Sam I do believe the girl is smiling."  
  
Hermione began laughing at the silliness of her two friends. Willow and Sam joined in and the three girls decided to skip afternoon classes as a way to keep Hermione in her present cheery mood.  
  
That night as the feast got closer Hermione said that she didn't want to go down so the three girls began searching through their bags and found some chocolate, lollies and drinks. They held their own mini feast and enjoyed every minute of it.  
  
Hermione, Willow and Sam had finished eating, packed up and were ready to go when a huge troll walked into the girl's toilets. Their eyes widened and they stayed hidden from sight. As the troll moved towards the end of the toilets, Willow motioned towards the door and Sam and Hermione nodded their agreement.  
  
They moved cautiously towards the door so as not to alert the troll of their presence in the room. Sam kept an eye on the troll as Hermione reached out to turn the doorknob. Hermione turned the handle but nothing happened. She turned it again, more frantically this time but the door still wouldn't open. "It's locked," Hermione whispered in alarm.  
  
Sam glanced back at the troll and saw that it was staring at them. "Guys we have a problem," she said, not taking her eyes off the troll.  
  
"What is it?" asked Willow.  
  
"The troll knows we're here."  
  
Hermione and Willow spun around and barely stopped themselves from screaming. "You two work out a way to knock the troll out," said Sam. "I'll distract it."  
  
Sam ran around the troll and began yelling insults at it. Willow and Hermione took out their wands as the troll lumbered towards Sam. "Petrificus Totalus!" Hermione called out. The troll stopped momentarily then shook the spell off and continued towards Sam.  
  
Willow noticed that the troll was swinging a club around. "Wingardium Leviosa!" she yelled. The club flew out of the troll's hand and hovered above its head.  
  
"Drop it!" Sam screamed. Willow ended the spell. The troll looked up as the club hit it in the head. It swayed on its feet then fell to the ground unconscious. It was at that moment that Potter and Weasley burst in.  
  
"Was there something you two wanted?" Willow asked coldly as all three girls glared at Potter and Weasley.  
  
Before they had a chance to reply Professors McGonagall, Snape and Quirrell came in. Quirrell saw the knocked out troll and quickly sat down. Snape took a look at the troll as McGonagall turned to the five Gryffindors.  
  
"Why aren't the five of you in your common room?" McGonagall asked, fury in her voice.  
  
"Well you see Professor," said Sam, "we skipped the feast because Hermione was upset so we were in here trying to cheer her up."  
  
"Why was Miss Granger upset?" Snape interrupted.  
  
"Ask them," Hermione said angrily as she glared at Potter and Weasley.  
  
"Hey what did we do?" Weasley asked indignantly.  
  
"What did you do? You called Hermione a nightmare and said she had no friends," Willow exclaimed.  
  
"Five points from Gryffindor Weasley for name-calling and obviously lying," Snape said smoothly.  
  
"If we could get back to the point here," McGonagall commented. "Please continue girls."  
  
Willow picked up where Sam had left off. "So we were trying to comfort Hermione when this troll came in. It didn't notice us at first so we edged towards the door to find that we had been locked in. By this time the troll had noticed we were there."  
  
"Then the troll started attacking us," Hermione continued, "so we had to defend ourselves as best we could. Sam distracted it while Willow and I cast spells at it. Eventually it got so dizzy that it knocked itself out. And that's when Potter and Weasley came in."  
  
McGonagall turned to Potter and Weasley. "Do you two have a reason why you're in a girl's bathroom when you should be in the Gryffindor common room?"  
  
They glanced at each other nervously then Potter said, "We knew that Hermione, Willow and Sam weren't at the feast so we came looking for them to warn them about the troll. We saw the troll come in here so we locked the door not realizing the girls were in here. Then we heard yelling and a loud thump so we came in here to," he hesitated and gulped, "save them."  
  
McGonagall's expression darkened. "Ten points from both of you for disobeying orders and acting so foolish. Go back to the common room." They left and McGonagall turned to the girls. "What you three did was an incredible thing to manage as first years. You each receive twenty points. Now head up to the common room so you can have your feast."  
  
Willow, Hermione and Sam walked into the common room and immediately spotted Potter and Weasley. They glared at the boys and grabbed some drinks. Sam, Willow and Hermione moved to the stairs and went up to their dormitory. The girls weren't in the mood for socializing.  
  
They got ready for bed and hopped in. Sam picked up her book while Hermione and Willow both turned out their lights. They were all thinking the same thing but none wanted to voice the question. Finally Willow couldn't take it anymore and said, "How could a troll get into Hogwarts?"  
  
Sam sighed and put down her book. She hadn't been able to concentrate on it anyway. Hermione turned her lamp back on and sat up. "I wouldn't have thought it was possible," she said. "From what I've read they're too stupid to have been able to get in by itself."  
  
Sam frowned as she tried to process things in her mind. "So you think someone let it in?" Willow asked.  
  
"I don't know. Maybe," replied Hermione.  
  
Sam finally spoke. "But if someone did let the troll in then who was it? And why?" 


	7. In which there are letters and the girls...

Chapter 7 – In which there are letters and the girls make a new friend  
  
As they entered November, the weather suddenly became a lot colder. The ground was covered with frost every morning and it was obvious that it would soon start snowing. On the morning of the first Gryffindor Quidditch match Willow, Hermione and Sam were sitting in front of the common room fire trying to decide what to do for the day.  
  
"Sam what exactly is Quidditch like?" asked Willow.  
  
"Well it has two teams, seven players on each side on broomsticks, and is played with three balls. That's really sort of all I know about it."  
  
"What do you mean?" asked Hermione. "You're a pureblood. Don't you know this sort of thing?"  
  
"I'm not a sports fan. I hate to watch sport. And since you can't really play backyard Quidditch I don't know much about it. Me and my brothers pretty much only play muggle sports."  
  
"So are we gonna go to the match then?"  
  
Sam shrugged. "I don't think I'll go. You guys can if you want to though. And why is it so cold outside? I mean it gets cold during winter in Australia but never like this."  
  
"Northern hemisphere weather," answered Willow.  
  
"Hey you know what we should do?" said Hermione. "We should go meet Hagrid. I mean we've never actually met him we only know what his name is."  
  
"Sounds great," replied Willow. As they were about to leave an owl flew up to the window and began tapping on it. "Oh hey it's Hera. I wonder who the letter's from."  
  
Willow opened the window, let Hera in and took the letter from her. Sam gave the owl an owl treat as Willow opened the letter and skimmed through it. "Well that's weird," said Willow. "The letter is from my friend Xander in Sunnydale. He says there is a new girl at the school named Buffy and he thinks she's a witch."  
  
Sam and Hermione looked at Willow in confusion. "But how is that possible?" asked Sam.  
  
"Yeah," said Hermione, "if she was a witch wouldn't she be in a magic school?"  
  
"I don't know," replied Willow. "She obviously goes to Sunnydale Elementary if Xander knows her. He said that he caught her looking up magic on a computer and looking for magic books in the library."  
  
"All I can say is whatever is going on over there must be something really weird," stated Hermione. "I mean there's absolutely no way that girl could be a witch."  
  
"The question still remains though, why would she be looking up magic?" Sam asked.  
  
"I don't know. I'd better quickly reply and tell Xander that this Buffy isn't a witch. Maybe he'll figure out what's going on soon."  
  
Once Willow had sent the letter off and Sam had rugged herself up, the three girls went down to say hello to Hagrid. As they neared Hagrid's hut they saw a big black dog bounding towards them. Sam grinned and ran to meet it. Willow and Hermione followed her and noticed Hagrid coming their way. "'Ello there you three," said Hagrid. "Why aren't you up in the stadium looking for good seats? Come on then come inside before ye catch yer death in this cold."  
  
The girls followed Hagrid into his hut and sat down at the table as Hagrid bustled around making tea. "No what are yer names then?" asked Hagrid.  
  
"I'm Willow Rosenberg," said Willow, "and this is Samantha Shirley and Hermione Granger."  
  
"Pleasure to meet ye. I see yer in Gryffindor," said Hagrid. "Are you three friends with Harry and Ron?"  
  
Hagrid saw all three girls narrow their eyes in dislike as he sat down at the table with them. "No we're not friends with Potter and Weasley," Sam said.  
  
Hagrid looked surprised. These girls looked like nice people. What was going on? "No? Why not?"  
  
"Because they were mean to Hermione," answered Willow.  
  
"Harry and Ron, mean? That doesn't sound like them. Sounds like more of a Malfoy thing to do."  
  
"Malfoy? As in Draco Malfoy? He's not mean. He's really nice."  
  
"Not to muggle-borns I hear."  
  
"But he is," Hermione protested. "Willow and I are both muggle-borns and we've been friends with Draco since the day we met. Pansy Parkinson is the one who's mean to muggle-borns."  
  
"Well you three and Harry and Ron seem to have very conflicting views about this Malfoy boy."  
  
"Not surprising," said Sam, "seeing as how we're friends with Draco whereas Potter and Weasley hate him."  
  
"Aye I see yer point." Hagrid finished off his tea and asked the girls what time it was.  
  
"11:30," answered Willow.  
  
"I'd better go then," said Hagrid. "The Quidditch match has already started and I'd like to see how Harry does in his first match. You three aren't goin' I take it?"  
  
Willow, Hermione and Sam shook their heads. "In that case," said Hagrid, "ye make sure ye come down and visit me again."  
  
The three girls smiled at their new friend. "We will." They gathered their things and began walking back to the castle. When they reached the Gryffindor common room they sat down in front of the fire again.  
  
"So what should we do now?" asked Sam.  
  
"Well I'm gonna do my homework," said Hermione, "while the common room is empty."  
  
"Yeah, me too," added Willow. "You going to do yours Sam?"  
  
Sam sighed. "Yeah okay."  
  
Together Willow, Hermione and Sam did their homework and then went on to do some reading. The three girls were glad to have had some time together without the common room being filled to the brim. When they went to bed that night, they were content.  
  
The next day, when everyone was discussing the Quidditch match, Willow noticed Hera sitting on the window ledge again. Willow took the letter from her and brought it over to the table where Sam and Hermione had been discussing a television show called 'Neighbours'. "Guys it's from Xander again," said Willow.  
  
Hermione and Sam forgot what they were talking about as they tried to see what was written. "Willow read it out," said Sam.  
  
Willow nodded and read,  
  
Dear Willow,  
  
Are you sure that she's not a witch? Because what I've seen so far is kind of leaning towards the witchy. Is there anyway that she could be a witch but not go to a magic school? Jesse doesn't believe me because he doesn't know about you. And it's not like I can actually ask Buffy what's going on. Anyway I'll talk to you soon Will.  
  
Xander  
  
"Maybe she's a Squib," suggested Sam.  
  
"A what?" asked Hermione.  
  
"A Squib is like the opposite of a muggle-born witch. A Squib has a witch and wizard for parents but has no magic in them."  
  
"So it could be possible that this girl is a Squib?" asked Willow.  
  
"It's possible but I doubt it. But whatever is going on in Sunnydale I'd like to know about it. Tell your friend to keep us updated."  
  
"I will." Willow took out a piece of paper and a pen to reply to Xander but as she was writing the letter she was privately thinking, 'What is going on Xander? Why are you so interested in this girl?' 


	8. In which Christmas comes to Hogwarts

Chapter 8 – In which Christmas comes to Hogwarts  
  
Christmas was fast approaching. One morning in mid-December the lake had frozen solid. McGonagall had come round the week before with a sign-up sheet for anyone staying at Hogwarts during the holidays. Willow and Hermione had both put their names down but Sam said she was going home so she could catch two weeks of Sydney summer.  
  
Willow, Hermione and Sam had of course heard about the Quidditch match. It was all anyone had talked about for weeks afterwards. The three girls were rather indifferent to it all. They still hated Potter and Weasley but usually avoided the two boys as much as possible. Apparently Weasley had other plans though. He picked fights with Hermione, Willow and Sam almost as much as he fought with Draco. Weasley had also somehow found out that Sam's parents were divorced and liked to rub it in her face whenever he was feeling particularly vengeful.  
  
Sam, Willow and Hermione were walking out of Potions the day before the holidays started when they saw Hagrid carrying a tree and Snape taking points away from Gryffindor because of Weasley. "I'll get him," said Weasley, "one of these days, I'll get him."  
  
"I hate them both," added Potter, "Malfoy and Snape."  
  
"Hey leave Draco alone," Hermione said as the girls approached.  
  
"Well if it isn't the Malfoy cheer squad," Potter muttered.  
  
Sam wasn't paying attention to the "conversation" but whirled around when she heard Weasley sneer, "At least I have parents who love each other and managed to stay married."  
  
"How DARE you!" Sam would've jumped on Weasley then if Willow and Hermione hadn't grabbed hold of her robes.  
  
Hagrid decided that it was time to intervene. "Come on, don't fight, it's nearly Christmas," he said. "Tell yeh what, come with me an' see the Great Hall, looks a treat."  
  
So the five of them followed Hagrid to the Great Hall and stood in awe when they saw the decorations. Willow, Sam and Hermione walked slowly to the centre of the hall and stood there staring at the decorations while Hagrid spoke to Potter and Weasley.  
  
"Wow..." Hermione murmured, breaking the silence that had engulfed them when they entered the hall, as Hagrid joined them.  
  
"So I s'pose yeh three are all going home for Christmas?" he asked.  
  
"No just me," said Sam, "these two are staying here."  
  
"Really? Then you two will have to come down an' see me one day."  
  
Willow grinned. "Don't worry Hagrid. We will."  
  
"What are you girls going to do now?"  
  
"We were gonna go to the library," replied Hermione.  
  
"Library? Bit keen aren't yeh?"  
  
"Oh we're not working," said Sam, as they walked out of the hall, "Just doing some reading."  
  
Hagrid smiled. He had found out that all three girls loved reading. "See you later Hagrid," Willow called as they walked to the library.  
  
Willow, Hermione and Sam were sitting comfortably with their books near the Restricted Section when they saw Potter and Weasley walk over, standing there simply looking at the Restricted Section. "What are they doing in here?" Willow whispered. "They never come in here."  
  
Hermione and Sam shrugged. The three girls watched as Potter and Weasley looked at the Restricted Section. They continued watching as Madam Pince got rid of Potter and Weasley. "Well that was peculiar," said Hermione.  
  
"Agreed." Sam and Willow nodded their heads.  
  
Hermione and Sam went back to the books they were reading. Willow frowned in thought, trying to figure out Potter and Weasley's strange behaviour, but then shrugged before also immersing herself in her book.  
  
When Willow woke up on Christmas morning she was excited to see a small pile of presents at the end of her bed. Being Jewish, Willow had only ever gotten a Christmas present from Xander. "Hermione wake up!" Willow didn't have to worry about the other girls in her dorm as Lavender and Parvati had both gone home.  
  
Hermione woke up and spotted her presents. "Merry Christmas Will," she said happily.  
  
"You too Herm," Willow replied as she grabbed the first present, which happened to be from Sam. Hermione had also picked up her present from Sam. Willow and Hermione burst out laughing at the same time.  
  
The first part of their presents was the same. A photo frame with three photos in it. "Typical Sam," said Willow, as she and Hermione showed each other the photos. Sam had developed an obsession of taking photos of people while they were eating. She had quite a collection of Willow and Hermione stuffing their faces with food. Hermione and Willow had taken their revenge by once or twice catching Sam with her mouth full.  
  
And so the frames had photos of Willow, Hermione and Sam all eating. The rest of the present included a book and a bookmark Sam had made herself.  
  
"I miss Sam," said Willow.  
  
"So do I," Hermione said, "I wish she could be here now."  
  
"Yeah... but I understand why she would go home. I mean besides seeing her family. It'd have to be hard going to school in England and therefore ending up with two winters and no summer."  
  
"True. But she said she would send us an owl today. Now come on it's Christmas. Let's get back to these presents."  
  
Willow had gotten a set of quills and different coloured inks and a pretty journal from Hermione, Draco had sent a large box of chocolate and lollies and Lavender and Parvati had both sent cards. Xander's was the last present she opened. Inside was a plain blue frame with a photo of Willow and Xander in it and a plain blue bracelet that had Willow written on it.  
  
Hermione looked at the photo. "Is this Xander?" she asked. Willow nodded. "He's a cutie."  
  
"I know," sighed Willow.  
  
Hermione grinned. "You like him don't you?"  
  
"No!" Willow protested but then relented. "Yeah. But he only sees me as a friend. Besides I think he has a crush on Buffy."  
  
"What makes you say that?"  
  
"Just the way he writes about her. Come on let's go have breakfast."  
  
Later that day Willow and Hermione received a barrage of owls while they were talking about how they usually spent Christmas. Willow placed the five letters on the table and picked up the top one. "It's from Xander," she said as she immediately recognised his writing.  
  
"Read it out loud," said Hermione, "I wonder if he's found out anything else about Buffy and her apparent need to find information on magic."  
  
Willow nodded and read:  
  
Hey Will!  
  
How's Christmas over there in tweed county? I miss having you here in Sunny- D. I have no one to do my Snoopy dance for. And thanks heaps for those potions. I'm planning on trying out that pimples one when we go back to school. It's bound to send Queen C cuckoo.  
  
About Buffy. I haven't caught her looing for magic stuff again but I reckon she still is. I think you and your friends might be right about the witch thing though. What was it you said she might be? A squib? That would make sense if she couldn't do magic but still wanted to know about it.  
  
Anyway I got to go now. I'll keep you posted. Write soon.  
  
Xander  
  
"What potions is he talking about?" asked Hermione.  
  
"I made some potions that Xander could use to pull pranks on people and sent them to him for Christmas."  
  
"You didn't."  
  
"Well he's a guy and I was having trouble trying to think what to give him. Besides he's been pestering me about it since I found out I'm a witch."  
  
Hermione decided to just let it go and picked up the next letter. It was addressed to both of them and was obviously from Sam. She opened the letter and cleared her throat.  
  
Hey guys!  
  
I bet you two have been waiting anxiously all day for this. Hehe. Miss me yet? I wish you guys were here.  
  
I've spent the last five days lapping up the sun. I hadn't realised how much I missed Sydney and summer till I got here. One day you two will have to come here with me.  
  
Have you been down to see Hagrid? Next time you see him make sure you say hi for me. Oh! And I have to say this. Draco is my hero! My present was a box filled with chocolate. So much better than what you two gave me. Nah I'm just kidding.  
  
Anyway I'll tell you about presents, etc. when I get back. I don't have time now since I'm about to go to Mum's. See you soon!  
  
Love Sam  
  
Willow smiled and rolled at her friend. "So what have we got left?" she inquired.  
  
Hermione picked up the last three envelopes. "These two are from our parents," replied Hermione as she handed one to Willow. "And I think this might be from Hagrid."  
  
She opened it and quickly scanned the note. "We're invited for lunch on Sunday."  
  
"Oh good. I'll write a reply while you read your letter."  
  
The next few days passed quickly and it was soon lunch time on Sunday. Willow and Hermione arrived at Hagrid's hut and heard yelling inside. They frowned at each other and stepped closer to listen to what was being said.  
  
"Please Hagrid; just tell us who Nicholas Flamel is!"  
  
"Is that Potter?" Willow whispered. Hermione nodded and knocked on the door. The shouting stopped and the door opened, revealing Hagrid with Potter and Weasley in the background.  
  
"Willow, Hermione, how good to see yeh," boomed Hagrid in delight, "come in, come in."  
  
"Hello Hagrid," said Willow, "how have you been?"  
  
"Oh I've been good enough. What about you two? Enjoying yer holidays?"  
  
"Loving them," replied Hermione. "Oh and Sam told us to say hi."  
  
"How is Samantha? Having fun in Australia?"  
  
"She loves being back in the sun."  
  
Willow looked over at Potter and Weasley, who were whispering to each other, and asked, "So Hagrid, who's Nicholas Flamel?"  
  
Hagrid looked startled. "Don't tell me you want to know now as well, because I'm not goin' ter tell-"  
  
"Oh we don't care who he is," Hermione interrupted him, "it's just that those two over there seem desperate to know who he is and that made us curious."  
  
"Hey stay out of our business," said Potter.  
  
"We weren't trying to get in it," replied Willow. "Jeez calm down already."  
  
Potter and Weasley glared at the two girls. "We'll come back tomorrow Hagrid," Weasley said. They left and Willow and Hermione sat down.  
  
"Well that was strange," said Hermione.  
  
"Those two just keep getting weirder," added Willow.  
  
"What are you talking about?" asked Hagrid as he set a pot of tea on the table and sat down.  
  
"Potter and Weasley. On the last day of term we saw them staring at the Restricted Section in the library. They weren't doing anything, just looking at it."  
  
Hagrid frowned but let it pass as Willow and Hermione began to tell him how they had been spending their holidays.  
  
Over the next week Hermione and Willow spent their time either in the library, the Gryffindor common room, or when it wasn't snowing, outside playing in the snow. A couple of times the two girls had been able to scrounge up enough people from other houses for a snowball fight. Even when they couldn't Willow and Hermione had made snowmen, snow angels or held their own mini snowball fights.  
  
The day before term started, Sam returned. The three girls spent at least two hours catching up on everything that had been happening. Sam was curious about who Nicholas Flamel was and why Potter and Weasley wanted to know about him. She decided to send an owl to both her mum and dad to see if they knew who Flamel was.  
  
About an hour before dinner Willow, Hermione and Sam were strolling through the halls of Hogwarts when they came across Dumbledore outside an unused classroom. "Good evening Professor," said Willow politely.  
  
"Good evening girls," Dumbledore replied. "I trust you all had good holidays?"  
  
"We did," Hermione said. "But what about you Professor? Did you get what you wanted for Christmas?"  
  
"Sadly no. I wanted a nice pair of socks but again I was given books."  
  
"That's a shame," commented Sam. "Perhaps you'll have more luck next year."  
  
"Indeed perhaps I will. Good night girls."  
  
"Good night Professor Dumbledore."  
  
Dumbledore left them and Willow, Sam and Hermione continued roaming the halls. "You know what we should do?" Sam said.  
  
Hermione and Willow glanced at each other. "No, what?" replied Willow.  
  
"We should get Dumbledore a pack of socks for Christmas next year."  
  
Willow and Hermione burst out laughing as they nodded their heads in agreement. The three friends continued to the Great Hall for dinner, all laughing but not quite sure what about. 


	9. In which there is a trade and a dragon

Chapter 9 – In which there is a trade and a dragon  
  
Once classes had started again Willow, Hermione and Sam were so busy with work that they had almost forgotten about Nicholas Flamel. Sam had sent off two letters to her parents during the first week of term but so far hadn't gotten a reply. Willow and Hermione were both working hard and were both at the top of the class. Sam was doing some work and yet she could still keep up with Hermione and Willow. They couldn't understand how she did it.  
  
A few weeks later Sam received two answers. After reading the letters she sat down at a table in the common room, right in front of where Potter was whispering to Weasley about Snape refereeing the next Quidditch match. Willow and Hermione walked in and sat down next to Sam. "Are those the replies from your parents?" Willow asked.  
  
Sam came out of the trance she was in. "What? Oh, yeah." Before Sam could continue the portrait hole opened and Neville fell in, due to the fact that he was under the Leg-Locker Curse. Willow, Hermione, Sam, Potter and Weasley went over to him while the rest of the population of the common room laughed.  
  
Hermione performed the counter-curse and helped Neville up. "What happened?" Willow asked concern evident in her voice.  
  
"Malfoy," he replied shakily. "I met him outside the library. He said he'd been looing for someone to practise that on."  
  
Willow, Hermione and Sam exchanged a look as Potter said, "You're worth twelve of Malfoy. The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn't it? And where's Malfoy? In stinking Slytherin." The girls glared at Potter but ignored that comment as they began to move toward the lounges near the fire.  
  
They immediately stopped when they heard Potter say excitedly, "I've found him. I found Flamel!"  
  
Without saying a word Sam looked at Hermione and Willow and they went up to their dorm. As one they sat down on Willow's bed. "Come on Sam don't keep us in suspense," Hermione said.  
  
"What did your parents tell you?" Willow finished for her.  
  
Sam glanced at the letter in her left hand. "Dad said that Flamel is six hundred and sixty-six years old and is the only known creator of the Philosopher's Stone." She held up the other letter. "Mum went into a bit more detail. Apparently the Philosopher's Stone will transform any metal into gold and also produces the Elixir of Life, which makes the drinker immortal."  
  
"Curiouser and curiouser," said Hermione.  
  
"Okay, so we know about Flamel," Willow said, "but we still don't know why Potter and Weasley are trying to find out about him."  
  
"I'd bet anything they don't know as much as we do," added Sam.  
  
Willow and Hermione both looked at her, astonished. "Sam you're not thinking what I think you're thinking are you?" asked Willow.  
  
"Depends what you're thinking," Sam replied nonchalantly.  
  
"You're not thinking of... trading information are you?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Well yeah. We'd find out what we want to know. And it's not like our information will help them much."  
  
Willow gave her a half-smile. "You would've done well in Slytherin, I think."  
  
"So I've been told. Well? Are we gonna tell them?"  
  
Hermione nodded. "Before breakfast."  
  
The next morning Willow, Hermione and Sam sat waiting in the common room. As Potter and Weasley walked down the stairs from the boys' dorms, the three girls stood up. Weasley and Potter stopped in their tracks and watched in silence as Willow approached them. "We want to talk to you," she said. "It'll be to your advantage," she added, to make sure they would agree. The boys nodded and followed Hermione, Sam and Willow out of the common room, down a few hallways, and into a classroom that, being only 7:45 in the morning, was empty.  
  
Potter and Weasley turned to the girls. "What do you want?" Weasley snarled.  
  
"Like I said, to talk to you," replied Willow with nonchalance.  
  
"What about?" Potter asked cautiously.  
  
"Nicholas Flamel," Hermione said, stepping forward.  
  
Weasley and Potter instantly took a step back and the girls could tell by looking in their eyes that they even more suspicious. "What about him?" asked Potter.  
  
Sam sighed in exasperation and spoke for the first time. "Look you want to know about Flamel and we have information on him. We want to make a deal."  
  
"I don't think so Shirley. Why would we want to make a deal with you?" Weasley replied in contempt.  
  
"You might not want to Weasley but Potter seems to be seriously considering it."  
  
"How do we know you won't lie about what you know?" inquired Potter. He certainly seemed to be full of questions this morning, Sam thought.  
  
Willow rolled her eyes. "What would be the point in us lying to you?"  
  
Potter shrugged. "Fine it's a deal. So what do you want for the information?"  
  
"You have to tell us why you've been trying to find out about Flamel," piped up Hermione.  
  
"Is that really any of your business?" Potter raised his eyebrows.  
  
"No," Willow said simply. "But we're curious people."  
  
"Curiosity killed the cat." Weasley gave Potter a look that clearly said he thought he was bonkers.  
  
"But it won't kill us," said Sam with conviction. "Now spill."  
  
"Granger do you remember the three-headed dog we came across in the third floor corridor?" Hermione nodded. "Well, we asked Hagrid about it. He accidentally told us that the dog was guarding something and he mentioned Nicholas Flamel. So we were trying to find out who he is but had no luck. But whatever it is we think Snape's trying to steal it."  
  
"You really are stupid aren't you?" Sam asked.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Snape's a teacher. He's not going to try to steal the Stone."  
  
"What stone?"  
  
As Sam was explaining to Potter and Weasley who Nicholas Flamel was and what the Philosopher's Stone did, Hermione's brain was busy, processing everything that she'd just been told. Willow noticed that Hermione's eyes suddenly lit up with understanding. "Of course," she murmured, "it makes sense now."  
  
"What does?" Willow whispered.  
  
"That three-headed dog I told you about once. Flamel must have asked Dumbledore to protect the Philosopher's Stone for him. Obviously someone's trying to steal it and there's no way it could be Snape. I don't like the guy but I don't think he'd try to steal the Stone. And I'd bet anything that there is more than just the dog protecting the Stone. Dumbledore probably had various teachers put enchantments around it. Snape included more than likely."  
  
"I agree with you. But it still begs the question: who's trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone?"  
  
As the weeks passed Willow, Sam and Hermione stopped thinking about the Philosopher's Stone. There wasn't anything else they could do as no new clues to who might be trying to steal the Stone had turned up. Obviously it couldn't be someone from Hogwarts because hardly anyone knew it was there, or even knew it existed for that matter. Which meant that someone outside of Hogwarts knew of its existence and would try to break into the castle and steal it. In fact had already tried to steal it. Willow had found out about the attempted robbery of Gringotts during the summer and had assumed that there could only be one reason for it and that it was to get the Philosopher's Stone.  
  
Hermione had taken to drawing up study timetables and colour-coding her notes. Willow often joined her for the study sessions. After all, there was only ten weeks left until the exams. Sam had attempted to help them but there was only so much she could take, and after a couple of Hermione and Willow's intense study sessions she gracefully backed away and just let them go. During their study times Sam would either do something by herself or talk to Draco. That is when he also wasn't studying or bullying someone.  
  
The girls had spoken to Draco about his bullying people in general but also about Neville Longbottom in particular. Draco had said that he would stop but then the very next day Willow, Hermione and Sam had found him teasing a Hufflepuff. They didn't like it but the three girls had resigned themselves to the fact that he would probably never stop. Not when it was part of his nature, just as it was part of their nature to be nice to people in general.  
  
The teachers had piled on so much work that the Easter holidays were no where near as fun as the Christmas ones had been. Willow, Hermione and Sam were spending every bit of their spare time in the library, Willow and Hermione either studying or doing homework, Sam reading. One day Sam just couldn't take anymore of the constant work and insisted that they go visit Hagrid. After much persuasion Sam managed to drag Hermione and Willow away from the books.  
  
When the three girls arrived at Hagrid's hut they were surprised to find all the curtains closed. Willow knocked and they were ushered in quickly. The heat inside was stifling. Hermione went to open the windows but Hagrid stopped her. "Hagrid it's boiling in here," said Willow. "Can we please open a window?"  
  
Sam was staring at the blazing fire. She couldn't understand why Hagrid would have a fire going when the weather had gotten so warm lately. Then she noticed the black object in the flames. Willow and Hermione followed Sam's gaze and also saw the object. "What is that?" asked Willow.  
  
"Hagrid is that a dragon's egg?" Sam asked as she took a step forward to get a closer look. "Where did you get it?"  
  
"Won it," Hagrid replied proudly, "about a week ago. I was having a few drinks in the village and got into a card game with a stranger. Think he was glad ter be rid of it."  
  
"Hagrid what do you plan to do when it hatches?" Willow asked.  
  
"Why look after it o' course. I did some reading and what I've got there is a Norwegian Ridgeback. Really rare."  
  
"But Hagrid you live in a wooden house," Hermione protested, although Hagrid wasn't listening.  
  
A little while later, when the heat in Hagrid's house had become too much for them, Hermione, Willow and Sam said goodbye to Hagrid and headed back to the castle. "I can't believe Hagrid has a dragon egg," said Willow.  
  
"Does he realize that it's illegal to own a dragon?" Sam said. "Probably not."  
  
"Let's just hope no one finds out about it," Hermione said, ending the conversation as they reached the castle doors.  
  
A week later Willow received a note at breakfast with only two words on it. "It's hatching," Willow read out loud. She looked up at Sam and Hermione, who had both forgotten about their breakfasts at Willow's words.  
  
"Lunchtime?" Hermione suggested, already knowing the answer.  
  
During morning classes Willow, Sam and Hermione couldn't concentrate on their work. They were too busy thinking about the dragon and hoping Hagrid was okay. The girls had noticed that Potter and Weasley were missing. They guessed that the boys knew about the dragon and had presumably also received a note at breakfast.  
  
When the bell went to signal lunch Willow, Hermione and Sam rushed down to Hagrid's and quickly went inside. The girls had been right in assuming that Potter and Weasley knew about the dragon as the two boys were leaving. On the table was a black baby dragon with large wings in comparison to its body, a long snout, tiny horns and bulging orange eyes.  
  
"Girls come in," Hagrid said. "Isn't little Norbert absolutely beautiful?"  
  
"Norbert?" Willow asked incredulously as she looked at the dragon that was trying to bite Hagrid's fingers off.  
  
"It's what I've decided to call him." Willow, Hermione and Sam looked at each other as Hagrid gazed lovingly at "Norbert".  
  
Over the next two weeks Norbert grew extremely quickly. In one week Norbert had tripled his original size. Every second night one of the girls would sneak down to Hagrid's to help him feed Norbert. One night Willow came back with her right hand swollen and bloody. "The stupid thing bit me," she said as she sat down. "And Hagrid didn't even notice. He was trying to sing it to sleep as I left."  
  
"Willow go see Madam Pomfrey," said Hermione, worried. "You can't leave your hand like that."  
  
"She'll ask how it happened. I don't want to risk getting Hagrid in trouble."  
  
Sam bit her lip. She was extremely worried. She didn't know much about dragons but getting bitten by one was not likely to be a good thing. "If it gets worse you have to go to the hospital wing Willow," said Sam.  
  
By the next morning Willow's hand had gotten drastically worse. It was now swollen to twice the size of her other hand and the area surrounding the cut had turned green. It appeared that Norbert's fangs were poisonous. "Willow we're taking you to Madam Pomfrey," said Hermione.  
  
When they arrived in the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey took one look at Willow's hand, sat her down on a bed and bustled off to get a potion. She brought back an orange paste and asked, "What happened?"  
  
"She was bitten by a cat," Sam improvised.  
  
Madam Pomfrey looked at her suspiciously but didn't respond. She applied the paste and bandaged Willow's hand. Saying that Willow needed rest, the medi-witch shooed Sam and Hermione out of the room.  
  
The following day, before going to visit Willow, Hermione and Sam went down to see Hagrid. When they arrived they found Hagrid sitting at his table, eyes bloodshot and holding a cup of tea in his large hands. "Hagrid have you been crying?" Sam asked.  
  
Hagrid sniffled but didn't give an actual response. "What's wrong?" asked Hermione as she glanced around and noticed something missing. "Where's Norbert?"  
  
Hagrid sniffled again and replied, "He was taken away last night. Harry and Ron gave him to Charlie Weasley and now Norbert's in Romania."  
  
"It'll be alright Hagrid," said Sam, patting Hagrid's hand.  
  
"He's in a better place now," added Hermione, "and surrounded by his own kind."  
  
After comforting Hagrid as best they could Hermione and Sam went to inform Willow of the happenings. "Norbert is gone?" Willow repeated excitedly.  
  
"Gone for good," Sam cheerfully said.  
  
"He's in some dragon reserve in Romania apparently," elaborated Hermione.  
  
"Thank goodness that dragon is finally gone," said Willow. "And I think Madam Pomfrey is going to let me out tomorrow. My hand's all fixed up. At least it didn't happen during the exams."  
  
Hermione looked startled. "The exams are only two weeks away. Sorry Willow I have to go study. I'll see you tomorrow."  
  
Willow and Sam grinned at each other as Hermione rushed out of the hospital wing to get to the library. 


End file.
